Waiting is Over
by Lilianna1
Summary: CHAPTER THREE IS UP! (and the peasents rejoice yay.) Why would gifted student and school prefect become the terrifying lord voldemort when he had the pefect life a head of him? A look and Tom Riddle's first year.
1. Two Houses

Chapter the First: Two Houses  
  
"NO!" A woman screamed as her husband threw her back. Her arms were encircling a small boy. Her lip was bleeding and there was a black eye rising on her face. "I tried to tell you earlier you wouldn't listen!"  
  
"What the Hell do you mean that 'you tried to tell me' we're married for twelve years and I find out now about your condition! As if you weren't so damn useless already Conscia!"  
  
"I. I would. I." She was sobbing and stuttering her gray eyes were washed out and pale. Her arms had let go of the little boy who was now inching away. His eyes were wide and frightened. His whole body was shaking uncontrollably as he tripped over the edge of an old rug."  
  
"You." Said the man turning on the boy. His eyes were blazing and ice as he stared down at the boy who had hidden in a corner. He looked as a man possessed looming over the room and glaring down like a bird of death upon the seven-year-old figure.  
  
"And are you just like her? ARE YOU GOING TO BE LIKE THAT?!" He yelled stabbing his hand at the woman in the corner. "You think you're so much better then me."  
  
"Tom don't!" The woman was starting to drag herself up against the wall. One hand was gripping the wall, the other was held tight on a wooden rod. "Tom I'm warning you get away from him."  
  
"Or what? You'll point that little magic stick at me?" He was jeering at her. That little thing In you're ignorant little hand Conscia?" He was laughing down on her now. He yanked the stick out of her hand." She was sobbing outrageously now and sliding back down the wall."  
  
"giv.v.ve . thaaat back!" She was really sobbing now but there was a fierce determination appearing under her eyes. "Give it back."  
  
"And what will you do with it. Turn me into a toad? Do you think I'm that stupid Conscia?." He was pointing her wand at her, gripping it like a sword aimed at her throat." "I should break this, I should break you."  
  
There was a crash in the hall. The man jerked up and stared at where the boy had been standing.  
  
"I'll kill him, I'll get that little bugger."  
  
"Tom Don't. please don't hurt him." He was fuming there was steam piling out of his ears. "Tom.don't!" He broke the wand in half and threw the pieces at her. "That's all you are! Is a god damn piece of wood!" She flinched when it hit her and stared down at the pieces with blood shot eyes.  
  
The man ran out of the room and into the hallway. He flew down the hall after the boy.  
  
"Tom I won't hurt you, just come out its all ok." He was running through the house room after room throwing open the oak doors of the huge house. "Tom come to your father I'm telling you to!" He threw open the door of the kitchen pantry to find the boy huddled in a corner.  
  
He grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the pantry and threw him into the parlor where his mother was still sobbing on the ground.  
  
"You DARE not to come when I tell you!" He was towering over the small form that was spread out on the ground, still trying to crawl away.  
  
"Tom don't," The mother called out weakly as she tried to stand up.  
  
"you stay there!" she fell back to the floor sobbing.  
  
"I have had enough of both of you." This time his hand connected with the boy's face. "You ingrate, you're not worthy of living in the same house as me, of breathing the same air. YOU ARE NOTHING!"  
  
His hand flew again across his face again and again. He kicked, he hit always yelling "You are nothing, I hate you."  
  
The boy lay on the floor tears falling in a river from his eyes but he never made a noise, never spoke a single word in protest. Just lay in a mess of black hair and blood.  
  
"Tomorrow I'll be gone and it will just be you and your miserable mother. I hope you suffer, I hope you crawl back to her family. The Marvolos I hate every single one of you and I hope you all die."  
  
He aimed one last kick at the boy's ribs and a door slammed.  
  
The woman lay on the floor still sobbing there was blood on her face and hand marks across her cheek.  
  
"Never, Never." she sobbed. "We'll never go back. never. I'll never crawl back no." Her hands were shaking as she pulled herself across the room to where the pieces of her wand had fallen. She held them together sobbing and shaking forced the ends of unicorn hair to touch.  
  
"Mum. what is." She was still crying, her tears were pooling up on the floor. Her breath was coming in sharply. The boy was staring at her face. He tried to move towards her but each movement hurt him.  
  
"I. I'm. s.s.sorry tom. I'm sorry."  
  
"Mum."  
  
"I'm so so sorry.I.I Tom I'm sorry."  
  
"Mum!" he was frantic and trying to inch his way to her. His ribs and face hurt every time he tried to get to his feet or even his knees. The large parlor seemed even bigger then normal.  
  
"I can't go back, we can't go back tom." She was staring down vacantly at the ground, her wand gripped into her hands with her knuckles turning white. She was pointing it at herself.  
  
"Mummy!"  
  
"A. Aveda."  
  
"MUM!" She was growing eerily calm and stared at Tom across the room. Her eyes were full of pain as she looked across the room.  
  
"You'll be better then that. You are already better then him. don't you dare let anyone compare you to him. Don't you dare."  
  
"MUM!"  
  
"I'm sorry Tom. so sorry."  
  
"Mum what are you doing, mummy I love you mum I. I."  
  
"AVEDA KEDAVA!"  
  
A flash of terrible green light filled the room.  
  
***  
  
Tom Marvolo Riddle sat straight up panting in the night. His eyes looked franticly around the room expecting to see his mother's body, or worse his father.  
  
His eyes were met only be the dismal sight of a crampt room and too many bodies laying on beds little better then cots. Tom stared around at the old wool blankets and peeling green paint on the walls. There were two small windows on opposite ends of the room and they each had three bars horizontal and three vertical bars. They made the same nine square grid pattern that Tom had spent the last four years of his life staring out of.  
  
He looked at the others sleeping around them. Most had been here far longer then he had, most of them didn't have scars like he did. Their parents had all died in the normal fashion, a few were war orphans but none had a story like his. No one in the orphanage was like him.  
  
He ran his hands through his hair and tried to lie back down onto his bed. Every sound pulled him back up, but he was not afraid, he hadn't been afraid for a long time. Now he was just waiting for something to happen. He had always considered himself a patient person but it was getting late and it was time for him to leave.  
  
Knowing that he wouldn't sleep that night Tom crept down the old wood stairs of Mannford House and into a narrow hallway that lead to the old ballrooms and parlors that had been divided with temporary walls into classrooms.  
  
He crept silently into the furthest one from the stairs where after latching the door he collapsed against it. The room was cramped and too many desks were crowded into too small of a space. There were no windows in this room, and the only glimpse of the outside was a broken globe and an outdated map, which still depicted Prussia, and Austria-Hungary.  
  
Tom turned on the singular light that dangled from ceiling. It sent a circle of harsh light down upon the old crooked and graffiti covered desks.  
  
Tom looked around the room but there was nothing to distinguish it from any of the other rooms in the Mannford House orphanage that he resided in. Not that there was anything to distinguish this house from any of the others that dotted the country.  
  
He pulled an old envelope from the pocket of his pajamas. It was creased and worn after too many times opening and closing the folds. Tom hated the letter more then anything else in the orphanage. He hated it with every deep recess of his being and every thought in his mind. He hated it because it was why he was here It was why his mother was dead and why he stifled every day.  
  
To the temporary guardian of Mr. Tom Marvolo Riddle  
  
My Client wishes to inform you that he his relinquishing all rights as the parent and legal guardian as the above mentioned into your care. After the death of his wife Mr. Riddle feels that he is unable to care for his son. He is willing to sign all appropriate documents and will not oppose any placement that you see fit.  
  
Mr. Riddle also requests that he is not contacted again on behalf of his son in any way. He will be joining the army and chooses to leave his son permanently in the power of the state.  
  
Marlin and Finch Partners in Law  
  
The words were starkly legal and formal but since the moment Tom had first read it he knew what the letter really said; 'Your father hates you, he's turned you away to anyone who will take you, and he never wants to see you again'  
  
He hadn't seen his father since that night, that haunted his dreams over and over again; and in some ways he hoped that he would never see him again. More often though he wanted to see his father lying on the floor begging for mercy. Helpless like his mother just before.  
  
His eyes closed to fight back the tears that threatened to spill over onto his face. He would not cry. No one saw him like that, he didn't have anything to cry over, and he was strong. One day he wouldn't have any of this. He would be alone. He would be far away from here. His mother always told him that. He knew he was better then this place.  
  
Tom heard a noise from above him in the dormitories. He turned off the light and slunk to the door. Pressing his ear against the wood he listened to see who else was prowling the school at night, but the old house had gone silent again and there was nothing left but to sneak back up to the dormitory.  
  
He lay down with the letter still in his pocket; he never left it out of sight it was a constant reminder of who he was and where he came from, and he would never let it go. He lay down to wait for the sun still unable to sleep.  
  
The morning dawned cold and gray Tom was dressed and at the window before even the earliest of risers was stirring. He stared out past the small lawn and surrounding cold metal fences to the village beyond  
  
It was just like the village that he had grown up in, except the old red brick Riddle house was missing from its place towering over the landscape.  
  
"Tom what are you doing awake?" The speaker was a middle-aged man with a brown beard and hair in need of a trim. He had just come in to wake the other kids who had begun to move restlessly in their beds. He was the overworked sort and always looked worried about something. He had a tendency to go up and down in weight quickly depending on the type of stress he was under. Now he was looking exasperated and annoyed. "Tom I asked you a question."  
  
"I wasn't tired, I woke up. Is that so hard to understand?"  
  
"Fine." He was still glaring at Tom though as he said it. As if being awake was a malicious evil trick Tom was playing on him. Tom saw this and capitalized on it.  
  
"I heard you walking around last night sir." The caretaker turned and stepped back towards Tom, he towered more then a foot above Tom and glared down at him with a menacing brown-eyed stare.  
  
"I wasn't up last night; and if I find out that you were, I will have your head."  
  
"Right." Tom didn't show any emotion as he spoke, but this seemed to push the caretaker even more.  
  
"Tom you are neither high nor mighty and I don't care what you claim that you heard."  
  
"Fine."  
  
"Oh. and you're on dish duty today."  
  
"I was last week."  
  
"I don't make the schedule and you're name is on it, have fun." He was defensive now and looking for an excuse to flee the room away from Tom.  
  
"I really don't give a damn how much my name shows up on your schedule." Now Tom wasn't even looking at the caretaker, and his words were muted as if spoken to the floor.  
  
"Watch it tom." Tom raised his head to look directly into the caretaker's eyes.  
  
"I always do."  
  
It was an idle game Tom played with the caretakers and he knew it, but it always kept them on their toes when he talked to them, especially the headmaster, Sir William Campford. He thought that his title made him so much better then everyone else, that just because of that he would always be better then everyone else. Well he would learn that he's not better then everyone.  
  
Tom smiled to himself it was already the middle of August and he knew that he would be leaving soon enough so it didn't matter who hated him.  
  
He didn't even mind dishwashing or whatever other chores they came up with for him to do when he was being 'cheeky' or 'disrespectful' he knew that all the teachers hated him and the caregivers would like to see him run away and no be found, but it didn't matter.  
  
He did have a knack for making friends that he found important at the time. The kitchen women all loved him; they gave him treats and called him a 'fine young man' One of them even took them home for a 'real dinner'. It was funny if you think about it, most of the boys distained the kitchen, but Tom knew better then that.  
  
They were the same boys that always complained because they never got what they enough to eat or wanted more desert at supper. Tom always got what he wanted though no matter how much they were lectured on rations and sharing due to the war. There was a way around all rules.  
  
He walked into the near empty cafeteria and shot a brilliant smile at the serving woman at the long tray of food.  
  
"Good morning Mrs. Davis, and how is your cat boots? I loved the picture you showed me last week." The plump graying blonde lady smiled back cheerfully at Tom as he spoke.  
  
"How lovely of you to ask Tom, he's quite well. He even caught that mouse that had been getting into the flour." She smiled as she dumped sausage after sausage onto Tom's plate. "But what about you Tom? How did that Maths test go, you were so worried about?"  
  
"I had to study all the time, and I barely got any sleep for the last week." All of a sudden tom looked very tired and drawn as he looked down at the floor."  
  
"Oh you poor dear. I always knew that they were expecting too much of the lot of you, its already so hard being stuck here and then the unrealistic amounts of work they make you do. It just disgusts me."  
  
"Don't say that Mrs. Davis it's not half as bad as you think." Tom broke off in a yawn. "I hardly had anything else to do."  
  
"Look at you you're a wreck, yawning and its only seven in the morning, I ought to have a word with those teachers of yours."  
  
"Don't do that, I'm fine really and I'll see you later today when I have dishwashing and you can see how well I am."  
  
"Dishes again?" She thrust her giant spoon back into the bowl of porridge in front of her. "You were here last week working, no wonder that you never get enough sleep. Don't you worry about chores today. You will be taking a nap, or face the consequences." Her spoon was now pointed at Tom. Tom threw his hands up in response.  
  
"I guess I have no choice." He said smiling.  
  
"Nope you don't."  
  
Tom turned away from the cafeteria line to find that the room had begun to fill up with sleepy faces in old clothes, a few looked like they were only sleepwalking into the room. Tom found the sight distasteful even though he saw it every day.  
  
A group of eleven and twelve year olds had entered the room as Tom finished talking to Mrs. Davis and were now eyeing him  
  
"Tom is flirting with the lunch ladies again, how does he do that. He gets everyone who doesn't matter to like him, and everyone who does matter thinks he's a prick." A tall blonde boy was smiling and laughing. Tom stood directly in front of him and tilted his head slightly to look into the boy's pale blue eyes.  
  
"Everyone matters, Franklin if you don't believe that then you are going to be sorely lost in this world." Tom smiled as he did so he seemed to grow taller then Franklin as he spoke.  
  
"And what people like you will be in charge? Don't get me wrong Riddle, you're smart but you're stuck in the same bloody orphanage as the rest of us in the middle of a god damn war, you'll be lucky if they take you as a soldier when you turn eighteen."  
  
Tom laughed.  
  
"You honestly believe that the war will go on that long, eventually wars like this will cease to be important."  
  
"Yeah sure Riddle." The boy was laughing now. "You're a psychic right? Or a master of Military strategy? I hardly think that you would even know who's fighting on either side." The whole group was laughing now.  
  
A bell started to ring in the same 'ding dong dong gong' pattern that it did every day. Tom pulled his books and notebooks off the table.  
  
"This has been a really great chat boys but I have Maths now, and I didn't sleep well last night so I would like to continue my sleep."  
  
Tom walked down the hallway towards his first class. A few more boys disappeared every day, all eighteen, all joining the army. The halls were littered with propaganda posters and paint peeling around them.  
  
He walked towards his class among the peeling faces of Winston Churchill and the royal air force. He didn't blame all the boys who ran off on their birthday, he was more then willing to do the same thing, anything to leave here.  
  
Tom walked into the cramped room and immediately sat in the back. The chair next to his creaked whenever the person in it moved. Tom sank into the stupor that usually accompanied these lessons. He was sick of waiting for the letter to come, he wanted to leave now.  
  
The lesson crept on like a snail with a broken leg, and Tom remembered none of it. He didn't sleep either and was more frustrated at every squeak and ever scratch of the chairs against the floor.  
  
It was getting ridiculous to be here. Tom was starting to get a little worried though; his letter should be coming soon. It would be coming; there was no doubt about that. He had enough experience with magic when he was with his mother to know that he wasn't a squib.  
  
The bell rang again and Tom stood up from his desk. He began to trudge down the hall. He was tired and knew that he should have slept last night.  
  
"Mr. Riddle I need you in my office please." The headmaster appeared behind him. "I've receive a letter about you and I feel it would be best to discuss it in my office with the senior board."  
  
"What letter are you talking about?" Tom's heart skipped a beat, finally the letter had come he would be out of here.  
  
"We'll discuss that in my office Mr. Riddle, please follow me."  
  
"I want to know what this is about." Tom stopped caring for even the most common courtesies; he would be gone at the end of the month.  
  
Just come with me Mr. Riddle." Tom followed the headmaster down the hall, and into the one non-cramped room of the building. Sir Campford's study was an old world den of mahogany and oriental carpets. Sir Campford still thought that imperial Britain still existed and that instead of being the headmaster of a children's home he was a big game hunter in Kenya.  
  
Tom entered the room, he had never seen it before, but it represented everything he hated about the orphanage and Sir Campford. While their classrooms were full of peeling paint and outdated maps he had his own plush study.  
  
Most of the faces in the room were wrinkled and drawn, few he had ever seen before. A couple looked like they were practically asleep. Tom sat down in the chair that the headmaster gestured to.  
  
"Mr. Riddle we have received a most interesting letter about you, and I have called these people here to discuss it." The headmaster was holding an envelope of parchment paper in his hand as he sat behind his desk.  
  
"I still don't know what you are talking about Sir." Tom lied, he knew that the headmaster was holding his Hogwarts letter, but he wasn't going to give away any more information then was asked for.  
  
"Fine, read this." He passed the piece of parchment paper over the table to Tom who took it and read the letter.  
  
Mr. Tom Marvolo Riddle,  
  
We are pleased to inform you that you have been admitted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Term begins September 1st. Please see the enclosed list of supplies and books. However, because of your current residence we will provide you with all materials of study that you need.  
  
We look forward to see you in September.  
  
Deputy Headmaster,  
  
Albus Dumbledore  
  
"Its about time."  
  
"What do you mean Mr. Riddle?!" The headmaster was glaring down on him and his face was turning bright red, however Tom could sense fear behind his eyes.  
  
"I mean just that Sir. I mean Sir that I knew I would get this letter all along. My mother told me so, she told me she was a witch, and not one of those fake ones with charms and ouija. She had real power, I saw it, I have it. I saw her use it to kill herself.  
  
"What is that boy talking about?" One of the other members of the room was on his feet staring at Tom like he was a mad man.  
  
"He's not being serious, its some sort of joke. I want to put an end to things like this." The headmaster was trying to calm them down, although he was beginning to look a little panicked.  
  
"Fine," said Tom icily, "It's a practical joke, let me ask you one thing though: How did the letter get here?" His face was ashen and serious, "How was it delivered Sir Campford?"  
  
The Headmaster's face grew pale as Tom spoke and as the room turned to look at him for an answer he cleared his throat repeatedly before speaking.  
  
"That is what I wanted to discuss. you see this is going to seem very unbelievable to you. but er." Tom interrupted him  
  
"It was an owl wasn't it? That came this morning and dropped the letter onto your desk?"  
  
"How did you."  
  
"I told you, I've been waiting for this day since I got here, and now I'm going to leave."  
  
"You most certainly are not."  
  
"Oh course I am. What are you going to do to stop me? 


	2. Homecoming

On the last day of August Tom rode the train to London where he would be meeting one of the teachers from the school to get a wand for him. He stepped out onto the platform and looked around, with no idea what he should be looking for. He felt a tap on the shoulder, and turned around.  
  
"Mr. Riddle, I assume?" Tom met the twinkling gaze of two blue eyes with a graying man behind them. "I'm the deputy headmaster and transfiguration teacher, Albus Dumbledore." He extended a hand, which Tom took.  
  
"Your name was on the letter wasn't it Sir?" Tom asked. "I was so happy when I received the letter, my mother told me I would probably receive one someday."  
  
"You mother was Conscia Marvolo, correct?" Tom nodded, "I remember her from when I was in school, a bright woman she was a few years behind me but she made a name for herself quickly."  
  
"She never told me much about when she was at school, but I was only seven when she died."  
  
"Ah, that's right she was young, if its not too painful how did she die?"  
  
"She had an illness that couldn't be cured, but I don't remember what it was." Tom lied; he didn't want anyone to feel sorry or worried about him because of the way his mother died. If he could avoid it no one would know he was an orphan.  
  
"Here we are." Said Dumbledore as they stopped outside a dingy pub with the name 'The Leaky Cauldron' scrawled atop it with fading letters. "Come along Tom."  
  
Tom followed the Dumbledore quickly through the pub and out into the back. There Tom watched as Dumbledore tapped one of the bricks with his wand and before his eyes the brick wall opened into an archway revealing a narrow street of colorful shops and people in clothes the like of which Tom had never seen before. He could have stared at it all day.  
  
"You're first sight of Diagon Alley, and I doubt that it will be your last." Dumbledore looked about the ally as if he was drinking in every detail. "We will go to Mr. Olivander's shop to get you a wand Mr. Riddle."  
  
The wove their way through the alley past shops advertising owls and dragon blood, books and brooms. Tom felt more at home in the few moments that he spent in Diagon Alley then he ever had at Riddle Manor or Mannford House. This is where he belonged; this is where he was always meant to come.  
  
They stopped outside a shop with old glass windows and a sign outside that said, 'Olivanders': makers of fine wands since 382 BC.  
  
"Here we are." Said Dumbledore as they walked into the store. "I have been in this shop many times Tom, although I only needed to come once."  
  
"Professor, what brings you? .Ah." Said a man who had appeared from around one of the shelves full of long thin boxes. "You must be here for your wand." He turned to Tom his big eyes looked him up and down.  
  
"That's right." Said Tom, meeting Mr. Olivander's gaze.  
  
"Hmmm. Said Mr. Olivander as he looked at Tom, you look very familiar but I can't seem to place you. Perhaps I have known your family?"  
  
Tom didn't like being asked so many questions about his family in one day. It unnerved him after spending so many years where no one would have cared if he fell off of the moon and into the orphanage.  
  
"My mother was Conscia Marvolo."  
  
"Ah yes. I remember her, ebony twelve and a half inches, unicorn tail hair; a good wand, excellent for transfiguration." He now met Tom's eyes again. "But you, we must find the perfect one." He pulled a box from one of the shelves. "Here we are nine inches rowan, with dragon heartstring." Tom took the wand in hand only to have it snatched away immediately.  
  
"No, apparently not. How about." he pulled another box off the shelf and handed a wand to Tom, "Oak eleven inches unicorn tail hair." Tom waved the wand slightly but there was nothing. Mr. Olivander frowned slightly.  
  
"Difficult I see, well we'll find it." He went through many wands and the boxes began to pile on the floor. Mr. Olivander began to look thoughtful. "What about." He glanced at Dumbledore, for a moment, who nodded slightly. "Unusual, very unusual." He pulled a box carefully off a shelf, and handed a wand to Tom.  
  
"Try this one, Ebony thirteen inches, phoenix tail feather." Tom took the wand into his hand. He felt a surge of power greater then anything he had ever known. It seemed to fill his entire body with electricity. He waved it and out shot a cascade of green sparks.  
  
"Interesting," Mr. Olivander looked at Dumbledore again. "A very difficult personality to match, I think there is more then meets the eye in you Mr. Riddle."  
  
Tom chose to keep silent as they walked out of the store and down the street. Dumbledore's expression had been pensive since Tom's wand had been chosen. They walked in silence out of the Alley and through the pub.  
  
"Now," said Dumbledore, "You will return to Mannford house for the night, and in the morning you will be brought to King's Cross station where you will take the train to Hogwarts. Here is your ticket."  
  
***  
  
Tom walked briskly through King's Cross Station. He passed a military convoy and wives saying tearful goodbyes to their husbands off to fight in Egypt or Poland. Tom knew that his father wouldn't be one of those men. He knew that few of them would ever come back, and knew that he could never be a soldier; he could never give his life for others for a country.  
  
The only suitcase that he carried with him was shabby and old. They had found it in the attic covered in dust. He had packed very few clothes. He would get most of the things he needed at school.  
  
He hated the charity, but it was better then spending the rest of his life trapped in that little orphanage, no. He would take the charity, but he would over come it. None of his mother's family was left, and the Marvolo fortune had disappeared. He would regain it and never need charity again.  
  
Tom saw the barrier, his mother had made sure that he would know everything he needed to get to Hogwarts. He waited until he was sure that there were no more people going through the barrier to go through.  
  
He immediately saw a huge red steam engine at the platform swarming with parents in different colored robes all waving to their children as they prepared to go off to school. Tom noticed that some of the parents were looking worried, and noticed that one young girl was crying her eyes out through the window to her mother.  
  
"Mummy I wish daddy was here" she sobbed wiping her nose on the sleeve of her robes.  
  
"Darling doll so do I, but he's in the RAF, you know he couldn't come, he's in Poland fighting." There were tears running down the mother's eyes too. "He would have wanted to come Myrtle, but he left before your letter came. He would have been so proud of you."  
  
"Mummy I'm scared." she trailed off into sobs and moans "I don't want to leave without saying goodbye to Daddy."  
  
"I don't either Myrtle dolly, but there is nothing that we can do, you'll have a good year right darling? I'll write every day." The girl was still sobbing; her pigtails were practically soaked with tears by now.  
  
"Every day Mummy?"  
  
"Every day darling!"  
  
The train whistle sounded. Tom got onto the train and walked directly to the back. He didn't want to meet anyone until he was at school, until he knew more about the people and who would be in the same house as him. His mother had told him all about the houses, especially the one that he would be in, Slytherin.  
  
She had been in that house, so had both her parents, Tom's grandparents. His mother had said that her family would always be in Slytherin and a few weeks before her death She had told him why.  
  
"When the school was formed there were four founders: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Huffelpuf, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. You," she said "Are descended from Salazar Slytherin, and now you and I are the only remaining Heirs to his brilliance  
  
"There is also a more important part to this. You are the Heir to all his power too. You are a Parseltongue, you can talk to snakes like I can, and you are a member of one of the most respected bloodlines in the magic world. You must not tell anyone though, always stay a step ahead of them and only give up information when it is in your best interest. You will always find you can outwit any of them Tom."  
  
He found an empty compartment in the back of the train and closed the door. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and stared at it. Mr. Olivander had called him 'different' and 'interesting'. He had watched Dumbledore's face in the store, and now he was sure about it. He knew something about that wand that Tom did not.  
  
Tom pointed the wand at a small piece of paper that littered the compartment floor.  
  
"Accendo!" Tom watched the paper light on fire. It was one of the few spells that he remembered his mum using and it worked brilliantly. He felt alive for the first time as he felt the power in his explode out through his wand.  
  
Tom stared out the window in anticipation. A few hours and he would be there, away from the horrible Muggle life that he hated so much.  
  
The compartment door slid open. The girl who had been saying goodbye to her mother stood there. Her eyes still looked weepy and her upper lip was slightly quivering.  
  
"Oh, hello I didn't know anyone was in here." She said looking disappointed "Who are you?"  
  
"My name is Tom." He said this coldly without standing or even offering his hand.  
  
"Oh." She said uncertainly at his tone. "Nice. nice to meet you. I . bye." She slid the compartment door shut abruptly and left. Tom settled back into his seat. That was the last thing he wanted, people coming to bother him on the train. He had to wait until school.  
  
The train pulled into Hogwarts after dark and they left the train and stepped onto the platform.  
  
"First years come with me please. First years this way please." A short woman with shocking red hair was speaking. "First years please come with me!" He hung back in the group of First years and climbed last into an empty boat that set off to the castle.  
  
It was magnificent, huge and ornate. Tom thought it looked more like a home of kings then a school.  
  
"Come along now first years, into the castle you are about to be sorted!" The woman had a very cheery disposition as she lead them into a room where they all stood nervously to wait. Tom stayed in the shadow of a corner and while everyone else was talking and introducing themselves around he watched.  
  
Finally they were lead into the great hall and Dumbledore held out a scroll.  
  
"You will now be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff." He set a tattered looking wizard hat onto a stool. The whole school stared at the hat until it bursted into song.  
  
After it was finished. Dumbledore began to speak again.  
  
"I will call you in alphabetical order, sit on the stool when your name is called and place the hat upon your head."  
  
"Shannon Arnold." A blonde girl with a ponytail sat down on the stool. The hat waited a moment and then shouted:  
  
"Ravenclaw." She got up and walked over to the Ravenclaw table among applause. Sean Barson went to Huffelpuff along with Margaret Bronze, and Frederick Darcy was the first Gryffindor. Tom waited patiently past James Gennings and Sarah Inis.  
  
"Myrtle Lacrima" tom watched the weepy girl from the train go try on the hat. It paused for a few moments before:  
  
"Huffelpuff." 'Robert Potter' became a gryffindor and finally Dumbledore called out,  
  
"Tom Riddle." Tom sat down and put the hat over his head.  
  
"Hmm. I know right where I should put you, but there is something else in your head that I do not understand, lurking just below the surface of your mind. Oh well it will be SLYTHERIN!"  
  
Tom smiled to himself, there had been no doubt in his mind that he would get placed in Slytherin, but what the sorting hat told him. 'Something just below the surface.' What did a stupid hat know? He sat down at the table among the other Slytherins and felt very much at home as he waited for the rest of the sorting to be over.  
  
"Now," said the headmaster standing up, "I have a few announcements before we begin the feast. As you all know the ministry is under attack by the dark wizard Grindelwald, and that war has spilled over into the Muggle world. For those of you who have come from Muggle families you are undoubtedly aware of WWII and a man called Adolph Hitler." Here he paused as many of the Muggle borns looked down at their feet. "We now believe that he is under the control at least partially by the dark wizard Grindelwald."  
  
Many of the students looked stunned. Tom say Myrtle begin to cry again at this, she was always sniffling about something.  
  
"This may come as a shock to many of you who's parents are fighting in the war, so I must express caution to all students in the castle we live in dark times." His face brightened, "Enjoy the feast!"  
  
The school sat in stunned silence for a moment then burst into chatter and noise. All except the Slytherin table which remained silent a second longer then the rest of the school. The boy at the end of the table stood up. He had thin blonde hair that clung to the sides of his head.  
  
"Slytherins, I'm Avito Malfoy and head boy this year." He made sure to pause long enough to allow everyone ample time to admire his badge. "Welcome to our new members, you are home. I hope, I know that you will all be a credit to this house. He sat down and the table began talking again.  
  
"Hello," said a boy on Tom's left who extended his hand. "I'm Alexander Reginald, and you are? ."  
  
"Tom Riddle." Said Tom meeting his hand.  
  
"Riddle, I don't seem to place that name." Said the boy smiling slightly.  
  
"Not surprising," said Tom offhandedly. "My mother is a Marvolo."  
  
"Ah."  
  
The rest of the evening went the same way, the conversation was based around families and the past. Tom kept the conversation turned away from him and neglected to mention anything about Mannford house or the last four years of his life. He alluded to his family's home in Switzerland.  
  
As the feast wound down Avito stood up.  
  
"First years follow me to the common room please." He led the way through the front hall and then down two flights of stairs and into a narrow stone corridor lined with menacing portraits and dark suits of armor. Torches glowed on the walls, casting shadows across the corridor.  
  
They stopped outside a tall statue of two intertwined serpents. The snakes were subtle in the wall and would have been unnoticeable unless you were looking for them.  
  
"Passssssword" hissed the snakes."  
  
"coluber" said Avito and the snakes un-twirled opening a small arched doorway in the wall. "This is the Slytherin common room, make sure to remember the password and any others that it is changed to. Further more if any of you are caught giving the password to anyone else. There will be consequences." Tom noticed that not one face looked worried, no one had ever intended to give up the password and no one ever would.  
  
Tom entered the room. It was dark and harsh, decked in ebony wood and emerald green tapestries and carpet. The furniture was sleek and bare, the room seemed comfortable but not warm. The light from the fire and lamps even seemed to have a green glow, and no warmth emanated from them.  
  
"Boys down the corridor to the third door. Girls down the stairs to the second room on the left." Tom was followed down the corridor by Alexander Reginald and the rest of the Slytherin first years.  
  
"My Father went to school with your mother, but I don't believe he knew your father."  
  
"I doubt that he would, my father is Swiss, I spent most of my childhood in his chateau on the alps."  
  
"Why aren't you going to school out there, near your father?" Tom smiled.  
  
"I would have thought you would discern the reason behind that, Hogwarts is the best school on the continent, and as a Marvolo I could hardly go anywhere else."  
  
"Indeed."  
  
***  
  
Tom quickly realized that he was much smarter then the rest of his class. Even Alexander couldn't keep up with him in most classes. The one class that Tom couldn't keep up in was flying. The rest of Slytherin had been flying and playing Quidditch since they were little, but Tom hadn't.  
  
It was the third week of school but the first years all still carried their timetables with them incase they forgot where they were going. Alexander pulled his out and frowned.  
  
"Transfiguration, I hate that class, Dumbledore is so creepy. It seems like he looks through you, like he thinks he's better then you." Alexander smirked, "No wonder he's the head of Gryffindor, he's so damn arrogant."  
  
Tom nodded assent but didn't say anything, he was still deciding on his impression of Dumbledore. He agreed with Alexander in one respect though, Dumbledore did have that quality that made it seem like everything you said was lying right out in front of him.  
  
They walked into class and sat in the second row of desks.  
  
"Today." Said Dumbledore with a half smile as he saw that all the desks were covered in parchment and books ready to take notes. They had been studying theory since the beginning of the year. "you will need only your wands." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled slightly behind his half moon spectacles. "I don't expect that any of you will be able to cause much change the first time, so be patient."  
  
"I'll show him," Alexander whispered and Tom smirked.  
  
"Hold your wand firmly in hand, unlike charms you will not swish and flick, hold your wand high and drag it downwards. The spell is _______.  
  
While most of the class including Alexander dragged their wands down and spoke effortlessly Tom held his wand and concentrated. He focused all of his energy to his arm and then through his wand to the needle on the table. He pulled down his wand.  
  
"_________"  
  
The match was gone; in its place was a shiny silver needle. Tom caught Dumbledore's eye but didn't say anything. Alexander saw Tom's needle and pulled a frown. He seemed to put far more concentration into the spell then he had before.  
  
"________"  
  
Alexander looked down at his needle very much pleased. "Professor, I did it." He said not even trying to keep the arrogance out of his voice. Dumbledore came over to survey their desks.  
  
"Ah very good Mr. Reginald." Dumbledore looked again at Tom who looked passively back, Dumbledore seemed to shrug slightly before he walking away.  
  
***  
  
"So anyway," Said Alexander as he walked with Tom and the rest of the Slytherin first years down the Charms corridor towards the Great Hall. "It was right outside the potions room, I saw that girl er. what's her name with the glasses from Hufflepuff, well anyway that doesn't matter. It looked like a small river was pouring from her eyes, it was SO funny!" Alexander was laughing so hard that he could barely finish his story.  
  
"So I ran into Olive and se was practically cackling with laughter, it turns out one of the portraits scared her." At this point Alexander ceased to be able to speak for about five minutes. "She is such a mudblood."  
  
The whole group laughed.  
  
They walked down the hall talking about Quidditch and the chances of the new school teams. Tom walked silently in the group listening so that he could repeat everything that was said later.  
  
"Mr. Riddle may I have a word with you?" Tom whirled around to see Professor Dumbledore standing behind the group. Tom wondered how long he had been listening to their conversation. Alexander caught his eye and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"I'll catch up." Tom said, Alexander shrugged and continued walking.  
  
Tom walked down the hall silently next to Dumbledore. He waited for Dumbledore to say something.  
  
"I've heard you're doing well in your classes." Tom shrugged.  
  
"I'm doing OK I guess." They walked in silence again. Tom wasn't going to offer anything except what was required.  
  
"You seem to be getting along well with your house mates." Tom stopped abruptly and looked sharply up into Dumbledore's twinkling eyes. He held them for a few seconds before looking back forward.  
  
"Sure." Dumbledore looked pensive for a moment. Then he nodded to Tom and walked away.  
  
Tom watched him go. Those two questions seemed so innocent, but there was something behind them that he couldn't figure out. He headed back to the common room.  
  
When Tom got back to the common room it was a buzz with talk. He looked around to see the first years crowded around in one corner of the room. He saw Alexander look up and wave him over.  
  
"What's going on?" Tom asked, Alexander pulled away from the group holding a copy of the daily prophet. He pointed to the headline and handed it over to Tom.  
  
***  
  
GRINDELWALD SUSPTECTED OF CURSING MUGGLE LEADERS  
  
Noted dark wizard Grindelwald has been suspected of enchanting the Muggle German leader Adolf Hitler as well as the Italian leader Benito Mussolini.  
  
***  
  
Tom looked up at Alexander who nodded back down at the newspaper, Tom continued to read,  
  
***  
  
The reports have not been officially confirmed by the Ministry, but anonymous high level sources inside the Aurors' office have talked exclusively to the Daily Prophet.  
  
The two leaders have both taken power through a Muggle form of government called 'Facism' Aurors feel that, "It is highly unlikely that a person could take such total power without magical help." There are also unconfirmed rumors from inside the Spanish Ministry that revolutionist Francisco Franco may also be under Dark Magic control.  
  
The untold story behind the reports is that the Ministry is not choosing to acknowlege the problem and refuses to try and help.  
  
"Different factions in the Ministry are unable to decide on the best course of action to quash control over the Muggles, and many refuse to admit that there even is a problem, and still others believe that tampering in Muggle affairs is a violation of their autonomy." Commented one. Another stated:  
  
"Without some kind of coalition government we will never be able to fight Dark control of muggles."  
  
The Ministry still refuses to release any comment concerning the overwhelming evidence of violence against Muggles.  
  
***  
  
Tom finished the article and looked up at Alexander. There was a look of triumph in his eyes and he smirked at the article.  
  
"They're never going to be able to get a coalition." Said Alexander positively smirking as he looked over the paper. I heard some sixth years talking and one of them said that a couple powerful families in the ministry were keeping the proper votes from happening."  
  
Tom nodded, content just to listen to the information.  
  
"I heard the same thing from some Ravenclaws on the way to Charms," chimed in Charles from the group. "Although they sounded less then happy about it."  
  
Alexander sniggered.  
  
They wouldn't be would they Tom thought. It was all the way you looked at it.  
  
"BANG!" The stone archway door flew open and three seventh years burst into the room in a swirl of black robes.  
  
"That bitch!" Tom heard one of them say as he craned his head to see who had entered the door. He recognized two of the faces, Avito, and Charles's older brother Dominic; they were in furious conversation with a tall girl with black hair hanging down to the middle of her back. "Where the hell does she get off acting all high and mighty."  
  
"Its not like we were doing anything anyway." Said the girl with a smirk. "She was just being an arrogant Gryffindor bitch." Avito had been silent listening to them. Tom tried to read the expression on his face but it was closely guarded. He took a deep breath and spoke.  
  
"I'll talk to her," he was far more calm then the other two. "She was probably just overreacting from shock. Nothing will come of it, I promise."  
  
The girl nodded but Dominic still looked worried. He was shuffling his feet back and forth and his hand was moving nervously over the girl's back.  
  
"Don't worry so much." Avito reassured them with a winning smile, she's not quite as big a bitch as she seems. At this Dominic let out a snort of laughter.  
  
"Sure, I have class with her remember?" He said with a grimace. "She's a bloody nightmare!" he began speaking in a high falsetto: "Oh professor, how interesting because I was just reading about some completely pointless thing that doesn't really relate to the lesson but I'm going to say it anyway." He cracked a positively evil grin when he noticed that the rest of the seventh years and even some sixth years had stopped what they were doing to listen. He continued now to an audience:  
  
"Reginald! That's five points from Slytherin for holding Katy's hand on the way to charms." He continued in his own voice, "but Minerva we were only holding hands what could possibly be wrong with that?" he again switched to the falsetto: "You should have more respect for those of us who are too terrible for anyone to like! Really Mr. Reginald! Have some pity.  
  
Tom was only half listening, he was more intent on watching the rest of the common room that was now practically rolling on the ground laughing. He noticed that Avito was standing slightly away from the rest of the group, and appeared to be only half listening to the conversation around him. Tom focused his attention on Avito. He watched as he moved slowly towards the door and slipped out of the common room.  
  
He didn't know what had prompted him to do it, but it had seemed fairly odd for someone who had to deal with Minerva Macgonagall everyday to sneak away when she was the subject of ridicule.  
  
He followed Avito up the flag stone dungeon steps, through the great hall and then up into the main school. It took him very little time to realize that they were going to the library. He hid behind a stack of books and pretended to be looking for something as he went peered through the slats in the bookshelf at Avito.  
  
He paused at first, scanning the room for something. He spotted a tall girl with a mousy brown bun and walked over to her. Tom could barely hear him speaking.  
  
"Minerva, I need to speak to you." She got up and followed him into the book shelves. Tom couldn't really see them but could hear all that was said.  
  
"Look Minerva, I wanted to talk to you about Dominic and Katy." Tom had expected her to get mad, but she just looked down at the ground and sighed. "I guess I overreacted, but they should not have been doing that in the middle of the corridor, anyone could have seen them, and I know some first years that would have been in for a huge shock." She looked back up at Avito, "Tell them to be more careful, alright?" Avito smiled.  
  
"I will, but they said they were only snogging."  
  
"Is that what they said?" she gave a snort of laughter. "I would not consider what they were doing snogging. It was foreplay and there is no other word for it."  
  
"Oh please."  
  
"They were! I am not making it up Avito Malfoy, it was disgusting."  
  
"Oh I forgot, you don't approve of public displays of affection." At this they shifted slightly and Tom gaped. Avito had his hands on Minerva's waist. It was short lived; she took them in her hands and pushed them off.  
  
"Avito don't."  
  
"Why? No one's going to see us."  
  
"Just don't."  
  
"Why."  
  
"It was your god damn idea! So stop doing stuff like this." She was glaring darts at him. He stepped back and held his hands up.  
  
"Fine."  
  
"Go tell Dominic and Katy I didn't take off points, and make sure they call me an arrogant Gryffindor bitch at least seven times."  
  
"I'll see ya."  
  
He walked out of the library and Tom followed him after a few minutes. He walked a little ways down the hallway.  
  
"You know," said a voice behind him, "If you are going to sneak around and follow people you may want to get a little better at it." Tom spun around to see that Avito was now right behind him.  
  
He walked next to Tom in silence for a while. Tom had no idea what to say so he just stayed quiet.  
  
"So now you know." Avito said breaking the silence. "We've been dating since last year, no one knows." He stopped and turned to Tom, he towered a fair height above him. "And it's going to stay that way."  
  
"Why." Tom spoke slowly but deliberately, "Why does no one know?" Avito laughed.  
  
"I should think that that would be obvious, her friends think I'm the slime of the universe and my friends think that she is an arrogant bitch, both of which are occasionally true." Avito laughed, Tom didn't.  
  
"Look," Avito continued looking down at Tom. "It's really stupid to isolate yourself to just the members of your house, Its far more useful to know as many people as possible and to have them trust you."  
  
Tom nodded; he knew that, he had always known that. The status that came with having a small exclusive group of friends was only good to a point, you had to go outside that group to achieve some things, and if you're too exclusive that could never happen.  
  
"If I hadn't wanted you to know anything, then you wouldn't." Tom nodded again.  
  
"I know."  
  
Avito looked down at his watch.  
  
"Dinner time." He started to head towards the common room. "See you in the great hall."  
  
Tom paused for a moment before beginning his walk to regain the rest of the school.  
  
***  
  
(Author's note: I've been looking for a couple people to beta this story so if anyone is at all interested email me: princesslilianna@yahoo.com as you can see by the huge amount of grievous errors I really need the help.) 


	3. October

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: HELP ME! As I put in not so bold letters at the bottom of my last chapter I need one or two people to beta this story for me, it would be extremely helpful and I don't care of you're the worst speller or grammarist in the world I just want someone who could read it and point things out that I won't notice. So please HELP!)  
  
Chapter 3: October  
  
Morning dawned cold and bright on the first day of October,. The school seemed even more sleepy and sluggish then usual for a Saturday as Tom pulled himself out of bed and to the window. He dressed quickly and stepped out into the common room. He was the first one there as usual on a Saturday.  
  
Most of the older students would be leaving for Hogsmeade in a few hours. He would be glad of the quiet, and the opportunity to look around. He had been here a month already and had scarcely seen the castle except on the way to classes.  
  
Alexander had already gotten all the second and first years together to practice Quidditch, but Tom had declined. It had not been his idea of a good way to spend a Saturday, and it would be much easier to do anything if he wasn't always with Alexander.  
  
Tom began to hear movement in some of the dormitories and he headed out of the common room and up to the great hall.  
  
Despite the early hour he was not the first one there for breakfast. He waved to a couple Hufflepuff girls that he knew from Transfiguration.  
  
"Tom!" called one of them looking up from a very large and very messy pile of papers. "Thank goodness, I'm so lost with this transfiguration homework, could you help me?" She was pulling her hands through her hair repeatedly and looked very distraught. Tom smiled.  
  
"Sure Claire, what do you need?"  
  
"Well, she said pulling her had through her hair again, It's that essay that we have to write about Matilda Mothelop and all that, I'm so confused." Tom nodded,  
  
"OK, do you understand her basic theory."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"She was a witch in the 16th century and she devoted her life to the study of transfiguration." Claire and her friend Elizabeth nodded in unison. Tom continued, "Back then the wizarding community though that it was impossible to charm a transfigured item. Like you couldn't turn a monkey into a partridge and them make it dance."  
  
This caused both Claire and Elizabeth to burst into giggles.  
  
"Right," said Tom continuing, "Anyway, she realized that the only reason it was impossible to charm transfigured objects is when they cast the charm they are thinking of the object as it appears." At this both Claire and Elizabeth looked very blank and confused.,  
  
"What does it mean, 'they thought of the object as it appears'"  
  
"When you charm a door locked you think of the door right?"  
  
"Right." They confirmed.  
  
"But if that door had been transfigured from a tree the door wouldn't lock."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I'm getting to that, you would have to think of locking the tree when you cast the spell, because the tree is the original pre-magic state of the object, does that make sense?"  
  
"Yes!" said Claire overjoyed as she looked back at her messy pile of papers, "I understand it now, thank you so much Tom."  
  
Tom left the table and walked back towards his own, the Great Hall had begun to fill with sleepy students as he talked to Claire and Elizabeth.  
  
"Good morning Tom."  
  
There was only one person at the Slytherin table and that was Avito. He gestured over towards where Elizabeth and Claire were working,  
  
"Matilda Mothelop, I remember her, quite boring actually, although I believe she went on to be headmaster of Hogwarts after her theory gained real recognition. Tom failed to see the point of the conversation be he answered anyway.  
  
"I think her portrait is hanging in the Transfiguration corridor somewhere."  
  
"That would make sense. do you have any plans for today?"  
  
"Not really, why?"  
  
"Nothing of importance." Tom didn't like cryptic conversations, and even worse was when he got the feeling that Avito was getting at something but wouldn't come out and say it.  
  
"Most Slytherins wouldn't take time out of their day to help Hufflepuffs do anything." Now Tom knew what he was getting at. "But you did." Although before Tom could say anything Avito got up and walked quickly away to meet a couple people who had just walked in.  
  
"Tom, there you are, why do you get up so early anyways?" Alexander, Charles, Robert, and Phillip all entered the Great Hall and collapsed into chairs around Tom. "Are you sure that you don't want to come out and practice with us Tom?  
  
"Yeah, I guess that I'm just not in the mood."  
  
"Come on Tom, you're always looking for some excuse to get out of it, come on." Tom shook his head.  
  
"I guess that I like watching Quidditch more then I like playing it." Alexander frowned.  
  
"Suit yourself." He got up and was immediately followed by everyone else, "I'll see you at dinner."  
  
Tom watched them walk away towards the pitch. He supposed that they thought it was odd he never wanted to practice, but Tom didn't really care.  
  
***  
  
The school was quiet and 'creepy' as Tom wove his way through corridors with no thought on where he was going. Before he could know his way around he would have to get lost enough that it would take him a while to find his way back to the Great Hall. By Dinner he would know the school better then anyone, except perhaps for the teachers but he doubted that even they would have spent hours wondering around.  
  
He was pulled back to reality when he reached a dark and dusty corridor full of suits of armor and portraits where the people seemed to be off somewhere else.  
  
"Lumos." He whispered to his wand so he could get a better look at where he was. There were closed doors every once in a while on the corridor and they all seemed to be empty except for a few things in storage.  
  
The first had a few desks in it and some old books that were in such bad condition that he knew the librarian would have a fit if she saw them. 'An advanced guide to human-plant transfiguration' he read off one with a faded green cover and 'building with charms' off another. They seemed to be quite ordinary spell books that had been left here by mistake. Tom shrugged and let them be, but put a mental note to know where they were.  
  
The other rooms were much the same and held old books and furniture.  
  
He walked through many corridors all of them seemed the same but a few had no class rooms at all.  
  
"It's nice to have some peace and quiet around the school on a weekend." Tom heard voices coming down the hall and he ducked into one of the old classrooms to see who it was. "Don't you think so Roderick?"  
  
Tom peered through the glass window in the door to see Professor Marson and Professor Binns walking down the corridor and talking. They were going rather slowly as Professor Binns was very old and looked about to collapse into dust at any second.  
  
Tom saw Binns nod barely at Professor Marson's question. He waited until they had rounded a corner and started walking in the direction they had come from.  
  
He took the light off his wand and walked more quietly incase he met someone else along the corridor, he didn't know the chances of that because he wasn't really sure where he was in the school. He saw a shaft of light at the end of the hall and came to a giant window only partially covered in a huge drapery.  
  
He looked out and found that he was on the west side of the school. Tom found it strange that they didn't have any classes in this wing and decided to find out what was here.  
  
It became apparent almost immediately when Tom came across a brightly lit entrance chamber that was surrounded with doors. This is where the teachers live, he thought. He had known in the back of his mind that they had to live somewhere but now it made far more sense that they would live right here in the school.  
  
Tom knew that it would be a bad idea to stay here where he could easily be spotted by one of the teachers, and it would be hard to explain what he was doing there. He retraced his steps and took the first turn that he came across and slowly wove his way back to the Great Hall.  
  
He entered the Great Hall starving for lunch and saw that Alexander and the rest of his dormitory was already sitting and eating ferociously.  
  
"Tom," said Alexander through a mouth full of potatoes, "Excellent scrwimmagf" He then realized that his mouth was full of potatoes, "Are you sure that you don't want to come out for the afternoon? Tom nodded.  
  
They spent the rest of lunch discussing Quidditch and the likelihood of each person to make the team next year. They all unanimously decided that Alexander had a real chance as a beater and that Charles could make reserve chaser.  
  
Tom stayed at the table after everyone else stood up to go out to the pitch again. He glanced up at the head table to see Dumbledore was staring intently at him. Tom didn't know why but he decided to spend the rest of the day in the common room.  
  
***  
  
Tom and Alexander sat in the front of the potions class and worked hard at chopping up their scarab beetles, they were making a mild sleeping potion under the eye of Professor Marson who was dressed in bright pink robes and chose to sit on her desk instead of in the chair behind it. She looked like a Muggle princess with long blonde hair that fell past her waist. It was rumored that she was part veela but no one really knew.  
  
"Very good everyone, although Miss Gaffney I know that you aren't going to put that rowan bark into your potion like that, you could hardly make a mouse fall asleep." Tom looked over and saw Shannon Gaffney guiltily continue to shred her Rowan bark. "See? That's much better the finer the strips the better it will react.  
  
That was the way she spent class, perched on her desk like a bird casting her eyes around the class seeking out any mistakes and giving praise where due.  
  
"Very good Mr. Reinald, and Mr. Riddle now wait till the bark simmers down into a thick syrup and then take it off the flame to add the sea water."  
  
The class chattered quietly as they worked Professor Marson didn't mind, actually she encouraged it.  
  
"So like I was telling you," said Charles form the other side of Alexander, "I was talking to my brother Dominic, and he said that there would be two chaser positions open and one beater. He also said that they only have one reserve chaser and no reserve beater, but there is a really good fourth year they want for chaser."  
  
"Have you heard anything about the beater position?" asked Alexander eagerly.  
  
"Nah," said Charles. "I think that you have a good chance for next year." The conversation went on like that for the rest of the class as they continued to work on their sleeping potion.  
  
"Alright class!" rang out Professor Marson's voice through the class room, "everyone choose a person from your group to try the potion." Alexander and Tom unanimously elected Charles to be the one to try it.  
  
"Bene!" Marson called out as Charles crumpled into a snoring heap to the floor. "That was lovely, Miss Gaffney, Mr. Daly you're next!" Tom watched as Sam Daly drank a spoonful of the potion. Nothing happened.  
  
"Miss Gaffney, this is why you don't stop shredding your rowan bark when I turn my head, please be more adept in the future."  
  
The rest of the class's sleeping potions worked fine although none as well as Alexander and Tom's, Charles was still out cold at the end of class after everyone else had woken up a few moments after falling asleep. Professor Marson praised both of them highly as she administered the antidote to Charles.  
  
"Not many first years would be capable of making such a simple sleeping potion that powerful, I think that warrants ten points for Slytherin."  
  
They were walking up the corridor and out of the dungeons when all of a sudden Sam Daly fell down asleep as they walked. Alexander burst into laughter and spoke loudly to Tom.  
  
"Isn't that just perfect, not only is Sharon incapable of making one of the simplest of potions, but she can't even do it without practically poisoning her friends." The Slytherin all roared in laughter, and Sharon seemed on the verge of tears. They all watched as Sam Daly sat up and rubbed his head. He turned to Sharon,  
  
"I guess it does work after all." She grinned slightly in relief. Alexander found it too much to bear and he started to laugh again.  
  
"What do you think is so funny Reinald?" Said Sam standing up and pulling out his wand. Tom and Charles instinctively moved to either side of Alexander.  
  
"I was just remarking while you were indisposed," he said icily and smirked as he spoke, "how fitting it was that Sharon could not only complete a very simple potion but practically managed to poison her friend. The school should have known she was too incompetent to come."  
  
"And what is that supposed to mean Reinald!" Yelled Sam, but Alexander didn't say anything else to him.  
  
"Come on, we don't want to be late to dinner." He said to Charles and Tom. With a last menacing glance at Sharon he pushed past them and went up to the Great Hall.  
  
"What was that all about?" said Charles as they sat down to dinner. "He looked ready to take your head off." Alexander laughed,  
  
"I doubt he could have even if I was asleep. Anyway everything I said was true. Whose stupid plan was it to let in a girl that wasn't even capable of following directions on a simple sleeping potion."  
  
"She's useless." Chimed in Tom, "I hear that she's even worse in Charms, its ridiculous." He said disdainfully. "at least we only have to put up with them for one class."  
  
"I know." Said Alexander.  
  
They talked about nothing in particular for the rest of dinner and Tom stayed seated as the rest of them got up.  
  
"Aren't you coming Tom?" Said Alexander, Tom shook his head.  
  
"I have a question for Professor Marson that I didn't get to ask you in class, I'll catch up with you later."  
  
"OK then." Alexander said, and they left the Great Hall.  
  
A few minutes later Tom left too and waited outside in a small alcove for a little while. It wasn't long before he saw Sharon Gaffney walking quickly out and towards the staicase.  
  
"Sharon!" he called out, "can I talk to you for a minute?"  
  
Sharon walked over to him slowly and with reservation. She crossed her arms and stared at him dubiously,  
  
"What do you want?" she said and Tom could hear the dislike in her voice which she made no effort to hide.  
  
"Look," he said making his face look open, "I just want to apologize for what Alexander said."  
  
"Oh." Her arms dropped to her side and she just looked at Tom in disbelief, what ever she had been expecting it hadn't been an apology.  
  
"What he said was uncalled for and just plain mean," said Tom being very sincere. "I hope that you won't let it get to you." He smiled.  
  
"No, thanks, that was really nice of you to say something." She smiled very brightly. "It was very noble of you."  
  
She started to walk away back towards the stairs, but she turned back.  
  
"Thanks again Tom."  
  
"Don't mention it."  
  
***  
  
"Tom what are you doing?" Alexander appeared behind Tom's chair in the common room, it was the earliest that Alexander had been up all year.  
  
"I'm reading a book, what does it look like?" Tom didn't take his eyes off the page, Alexander looked like he was about to burst.  
  
"Reading! At a time like this?"  
  
"At a time like what? Alexander." He looked at Tom in disbelief,  
  
"Quidditch." He finally burst. "There is no way that you forgot that today was the first Quidditch game of the year." Tom finally started laughing, and Alexander looked very puzzled.  
  
"Of course not," he said in-between bouts of laughter, "but I really had you going for awhile didn't I?" Alexander rolled his eyes, apparently he didn't find forgetting about Quidditch anything to laugh about.  
  
"Ha ha very funny," he said sarcastically and then impatiently "can we please go now?"  
  
"Alright, alright," said Tom as he got up and made his way up to the great Hall along with Alexander and everyone else.  
  
The room was for more crowded then it ever was on a Saturday morning with most of the crowd centering around the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables. Everyone was excited for the first game of the year.  
  
"This should be an easy game." Said Charles matter-of-factly over a plate of hash browns and sausages, "I hear that Gryffindor lost all three of their chasers last year and only had one reserve, so the whole plan will be to score enough points so even if they catch the snitch they still lose. Although I don't actually know who their seeker is."  
  
Alexander looked up from his pumpkin juice and stared at Charles as if he had grown another head.  
  
"How can you not know who the seeker is?" He said through a mouth full of toast. "They have had the same seeker for five years, it's the head girl Minerva something."  
  
"Oh," said Charles, "That still doesn't mean that she's any good." He continued defiantly.  
  
"She's supposed to be brilliant," continued Alexander, "Everyone says they would have a great chance at the Quidditch cup if it wasn't for the fact that the chasers are terrible, they're not as bad as our seeker though."  
  
"Hey!" said Charles at this comment. "Our seeker is my brother."  
  
"Oops." Said Alexander sarcastically. The two then spent the next few moments staring at each other with narrowed eyes. Tom started laughing.  
  
"You look like two Gorillas or something about to clobber each other at the first sign of movement." They all started laughing and headed out to the pitch.  
  
It was October and the air was beginning to have a bite to it. Tom watched as the players marched out onto the field and a whistle rang out through the stadium.  
  
They were in the air and Tom heard the voice of the announcer magically magnified.  
  
"Slytherin takes possession and its Malfoy passing to Manfred and back to Malfoy, he shoots but its deflected by the Gryffindor keeper right into the hands of Slytherin chaser Jameson who shoots and SCORE! Ten points to Slytherin."  
  
The rest of the game progressed the same way with Slytherin scoring 180 points to Gryffindor's 30.  
  
"McGonagall dives near the Slytherin goal post, I can see the snitch its only feet in front of her if she catches it the game will end in a tie." Tom watched as two bludgers flew dangerously close to her head, but she didn't seem to notice as her long hair whipped out behind her.  
  
Her extended hand was only inches away from grasping the snitch now but just before her hand could close around it another shout rang out  
  
"SCORE" Slytherin had scored another point just as McGonagall's hand closed around the snitch and she tumbled onto the muddy pitch.  
  
"McGonagall catches the snitch for 150 points to Gryffindor but Slytherin wins 190 to 180." Loud cheers erupted from the Slytherin section, but the cheers from the Gryffindors were just as loud as Minerva pulled herself up from the ground and held out the snitch to the Gryffindor section.  
  
Alexander was sullen as they walked back into the Great Hall. They saw Minerva surrounded by a group of first and second years. Her usual prim and perfect appearance was disheveled. She was happily talking about the game and had a very rapt audience..  
  
"I don't know why they're so happy." Said Alexander to Tom, "They lost,"  
  
Tom agreed but he was far more interested in what was going on when the Slytherin team walked in, they weren't half as disheveled as Minerva and none of them were covered in mud. Tom watched as Avito walked over to Minerva and said just loudly enough that Tom could hear.  
  
"Can I talk to you?" She nodded and they walked away. Tom followed just close enough to be in ear shot.  
  
"That was a great catch," Avito said light heartedly. Minerva narrowed her eyes.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"I can't just want to talk to you?"  
  
"I'm not in the mood for this."  
  
"Not in the mood for what?"  
  
"This, you, you're sneaking around and bizarre sense of loyalties that we can't get mixed up in because it would just be 'bad for both of us'."  
  
"I."  
  
"No, let me finish, I put up with it for awhile but I just don't want to deal with it anymore. Consider this the end."  
  
"Minerva!" He protested, "You can't mean that."  
  
"Well I do, so leave me alone alright?"  
  
"Fine Minerva, have it your way. See if I give a damn."  
  
***  
  
It was on the way to charms that Tom and Alexander heard this awful wailing crying sound coming from one of the rooms on the second floor. Alexander made a face,  
  
"What is that, it sounds like someone stepped on a merperson, and is slowly squeezing it to death." Tom agreed but he had a sneaking suspicion that he knew what it was. As they got closer to the sound they could also hear laughter, they saw Olive Hornby and Caterina James standing by the girls toilet howling in laughter.  
  
"What is that?" asked Tom with his hands clamped to his ears. This just caused the two of them to laugh even harder.  
  
"Myrtle," gasped Olive through her laughter, "The Hufflepuff mudblood with the glasses, I made one little comment about her pigtails and she flew into hysterics and locked herself in there. Its pathetic really."  
  
Olive pulled strands of short ebony hair out of her face when she noticed that Alexander was standing next to Tom, she quickly straightened up.  
  
"Oh hi Alexander I didn't see you." She batted her eyelashes slightly and Tom rolled his eyes.  
  
They walked towards charms still laughing about Myrtle's wailing which grew quieter in the background.  
  
Tom and Alexander sat down in desks and Olive went back to join Caterina, the two were still giggling slightly as class began.  
  
"Settle class." Professor Lita walked in to the room from his office and stood in front of the class. They all went silent immediately, it was not a particularly good idea to be on Professor Lita's bad side.  
  
"Today, we will start on something a little more advanced, although I doubt that some of you are even close to being able to manage it." His gaze rested for a moment on Elizabeth and Claire, "Today we will learn levitation, watch please." He held out his wand over a feather and said quietly but commandingly, "Wingardium Leviosa" The feather rose into the air and then settled back onto the desk.  
  
"I want no fooling around today, and please don't set anything on fire," He again looked at Elizabeth and Claire. "Everyone, wands out and together."  
  
"Wingardium Leviosa." They all said in unison, Tom's feather levitated a few feet off the table, this wasn't hard, Professor Lita was exaggerating. It took him a moment to realize that he was the only one to have managed to levitate their feather.  
  
"Very good Mr. Riddle." Said Lita when he spotted Tom's feather, then he was back to speaking to the entire class. "Again now." This time Alexander's and a couple other feathers levitated off the desks.  
  
In the middle of the sixth try the door opened and shut. Professor Lita held up his hand for the class to be quit and stop moving. He turned to the door, where Myrtle was standing her face puffy and eyes red.  
  
"Miss Lacrima you are late that's five points from Hufflepuff take your seat." Myrtle looked as if she might cry again and shuffled off to the back of the room to where Elizabeth and Claire were giving her reassuring looks.  
  
"No I don't think so," said Lita icily, "You have already missed half the lesson, sit up here where I can keep an eye on you." He pointed to a desk next to Olive which Myrtle sank into regretfully and pulled out her wand.  
  
After class Myrtle practically leaped out of her chair to get as far away from Olive as possible. Tom packed up his books into his bag and began to walk out of the room.  
  
"Mr. Riddle," Tom turned around, "May I speak to you a moment after class?" Alexander caught Tom's eye and raised his eyebrows, Tom shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"I'll catch up with you at the feast," he said and Alexander left along with the rest of the class. Once they were all gone Professor Lita began to speak..  
  
"Its no normal nor easy feat to master a levitation charm on your first attempt. I have noticed that you seem bored in class, and I agree the pace we are moving is quite boring." He opened a drawer and pulled out a book, "I think that you should spend some time learning these they could be very helpful."  
  
Tom left the room and read the title of the book, 'Useful charms for the gifted' He shoved it back into his bag and set off to the Great Hall.  
  
Tom slid into the spot next to Alexander there were Jack-O-Lanterns suspended above the tables and the entire room smelled of baked pumpkin and cinnamon.  
  
"What was that about?" said Alexander as Tom sat down.  
  
"Nothing, he just had a book that he wanted me to take a look at a charm book."  
  
"OK," said Alexander.  
  
They were interrupted by the food appearing on the dishes sat in front of them. They ate and talked about nothing in particular until some of the older students began to talk about recent events.  
  
As Tom listened he realized that he hadn't been paying as much attention to the affairs in the wizarding world then he should have. Tom and Alexander both went quiet to hear some sixth years down the table talking.  
  
"The teachers aren't telling the whole story, the papers aren't either, My brother works in the Ministry and they're all worried The ministries in other countries are failing from internal pressure and the inability to fight Grindlewald's influence." Another one nodded.  
  
"The Spanish Ministry is in shambles, they have almost no control over the country, and the muggles are in war which is destroying the land and wizarding culture. Many are fleeing to France and Brittain or even to Latin America."  
  
"Germany is bad too, so is Italy," The first one continued, "The ministries are hardly able to keep themselves hidden from Muggles."  
  
"Why should we care about the Muggles they just go around destroying things with their stupid war, its not even over anything important."  
  
"We have to hide the magical world to protect Muggles, it's ridiculous."  
  
The sentiment was pretty widespread among the members of the table, and those that didn't agree kept their mouths shut.  
  
"My father says that if he had it his way Ministry policy would not involve Muggles at all."  
  
Tom listened carefully to everything that was said. He hadn't known what was going on before and now that he did he wanted to know more. What could make an entire country's ministry collapse from the inside?  
  
"Tom!" Tom's concentration broke as Alexander practically yelled in his ear. "Did you hear a single word that I said Tom?" Tom thought for a moment.  
  
"You were talking about Quidditch next year." Alexander rolled his eyes.  
  
"That was practically an hour a go Tom, where have you been?"  
  
"I was just thinking."  
  
"Fine, anyway, if you had been listening instead of being in daydream land you would have been able to answer my question, where are you going over holiday break?"  
  
Tom froze for a moment, he hadn't thought of that yet, he knew that he planned to stay at Hogwarts, but that wouldn't be the best answed.  
  
"I don't know yet," He lied although tried to seem as offhand as possible. "I haven't really thought about it."  
  
"Well are you going to go back to Switzerland or is your dad meeting you in England?"  
  
"Alexander I really don't know yet, why?" Alexander shrugged.  
  
"No reason I was just wondering." 


End file.
